944 Budget Porsche

I bought this 1985.5 PORSCHE 944 on November 24,
2002 for the princely sum of 1000 dollars. I think that is a
very good price especially considering that it came with a
new clutch and a set of factory manuals. Still, its
an eye-opening experience and one should have their eyes
open when it comes to cars. These old German cars are
not for everyone. A good deal for me may be a disaster for
others. I think to enjoy a Porsche (especially an older
one) you'll need some combination of these things.

Money

Patience

A little more money

A trusted mechanic

Low blood pressure

Mechanical aptitude

I don't have any of the first 5 but
do have a little of that last one.

Like
other projects I learned as much as I could, talking with
other Porsche owners and reading about their experiences. As
I went through this and some hands-on tinkering, I learned
that there a lot of things about Porsche cars - some
good and some not so good. One surprising aspect is that
there are a lot of owners that discuss and share their
knowledge via the internet. This makes for a huge jump
start in finding how to go about fixing my car. On the
downside, it seems there are a lot of things about the 944
that require attention. Mine seemed to have many of the
classic problems:

Engine oil leaks

Leaky power steering rack

Worn out ball joints

Inoperative air conditioning

Inoperative power seat adjusters

intermittent power window
operation

Hard to open passenger door

Inoperative remote hatch release

Some of these things are
serious, some are not.

I should also mention that despite
these problems there are a lot of things that the previous
owner took care of. For instance I have a new clutch,
replaced AC/heater controls, good brakes and glass. The
interior, body and paint are in fairly good shape
too.

I've also learned that these cars are
difficult to work on. That is typical of sports cars.
Parts although available, are often times very expensive.
Here are a few quick examples:

A clutch job on other cars might
cost 500$ in labor & $300 for parts; but for the
944, labor is often twice that much and the parts alone are well over $500.

A set of engine gaskets for many
4 cylinder cars is something like 80$ but for the 944,
the cost is roughly double.

A front suspension control arm
might normally cost 120$, but for the 944 this piece
costs over $400.

I think, because of these things,
that Porsche owners have a sort of complex about their
cars. They hate the high cost of new parts and are
frequently aggravated by poor reliability and goofy design
decisions. At the same time they seem to love how the cars
are different from almost everything else on the road. And
too, these cars ARE fun to drive. They have a very solid
feel, excellent stopping power and make for a great
commuter.

I like the challenge of fixing up old
cars - I’ve done several over the years but it has been
some time since my last car project. In past projects I
poured many dollars into "my creations" all the
while telling myself things like "... worth doing is
worth doing right." This is a good approach but can
blend over into adding high-dollar bolt-on
modifications. "Bolt-Ons" or "Go
Fasters" come in all sorts of colors and flavors and
can be quite appealing. Before you know it, you have a
modified vehicle that only the very young would want to
purchase. Doing this is no longer challenging or
satisfying (for me). What I have enjoyed most was
devising some sort of unconventional modification that
solves a long standing problem.

These experiences together with what
I'd learned about Porsches began to shape my ideas for
what I wanted to do with this car. A restoration or some
sort of all-out renovation was out, simply because the
resale value of the car could not justify it. A V-8
transplant might be fun but the local smog inspections
would probably sideline that and besides, there are so
many other cars that would make better hot rods. So, that
just leaves something in the middle, some way to say
cool-foreign-sports-car and still be a reasonable, fun
project. This is how I came to the idea of a -
"Budget Porsche."

If you own a PORSCHE,
you probably wouldn't put these 2 words together (Budget -
Porsche); but that is what I'm trying to do.

Goal: Build a reliable, daily driver
for under $4000.

July
2, 04 Update: I'm about 95% finished with this project and
have only some paint work to be finished. I use the car
now only on weekends. To date, I have spent almost all of
my budget.

Update: I sold this car
in 2010 and got all of my money back. Of course, my labor cost was all lost.
The biggest disappointment about that car was that the right front frame
rail had been replaced and I could not get it to align correctly, which
meant the car always pulled a little to the right. Anyway, it was a fun
project and opened the door to several other projects.

"There's no such thing as a cheap Porsche"

In retrospect, I think
a Porsche 944 makes for an excellent project. There are many frustrations
along the way but, for me, the challenges are rewarded with a good handling
and economical car that can be made reliable with determination.